When COVID-19 forced shelter-in-place orders earlier this year, many businesses and entire industries were thrown for a loop. They were forced to reconsider how their employees can work and even reassess their capabilities in order to better serve people during the pandemic—sometimes moving beyond the typical industry that they operate in.
According to the McKinsey & Company April 2020 report, “Innovation in a crisis: Why it is more critical than ever,” 90% of the 200 executives surveyed from organizations across industries said they believe the fallout from COVID-19 will fundamentally change how they do business over the next five years. Furthermore, more than 75% said that the crisis would create significant new opportunities for growth. And yet, only 21% of those surveyed felt they had the expertise, resources, and commitment to pursue new growth successfully at this time. Most executives said they didn’t have time to innovate in the current environment. In fact, across all of the surveyed industries, only pharma and medical products increased their focus on innovation during the COVID-19 crisis. That’s because our industry didn’t have the luxury of waiting for things to get better; they had to be the force that made things better.
Our 9th Annual Innovations Issue is filled with examples of organizations that acted quickly to find and develop innovative new ways to help physicians, patients, payers, and hospitals impacted by COVID. They didn’t hesitate—not even for a second. Some of these new offerings were launched weeks—and in some cases days—after COVID started shutting things down in March. That’s because this industry knows how imperative its ability to be innovative is—not for its bottom line but for the billions of people around the world who could be suffering from any disease at any time.
Below you can click on each of the selections for more information on the top innovators and innovations in six categories:
- Companies (any organization developing new ways to push the industry forward)
- Divisions (new sectors formed to address a particular problem facing the industry)
- Startups (companies less than five years old pioneering new avenues in healthcare)
- Products (software, apps, programs, and anything else designed to improve how those working in the industry do their jobs)
- Services (compelling offerings that help the industry tackle new challenges)
- Strategies (never-before-tried approaches that are changing how the industry operates)
We received hundreds of submissions, not all of them were related to COVID—neither are our picks—but our staff felt these represent the best of our industry. An industry that knows innovation can never wait.